Helle Thorning-Schmidt

Thorning-Schmidt, Helle (hĕlˈə tôrˈnĕng-shmĕtˈ) [key] 1966–, Danish political leader, grad. Univ. of Copenhagen (1994). A Social Democrat, she was a member of the European parliament from 1999 to 2004. In 2005 she was elected to the Danish parliament and subsequently became party leader; she remained in the post after the party's 2007 loss. In 2011 the Social Democratic-led center-left alliance narrowly won control of parliament, and she became prime minister (and the first woman to hold the office).